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Pig farmer told assets men to recite prayer

Wed, Dec 19, 2012, 00:00

EMER CONNOLLY

A Longford pig farmer who denies falsely imprisoning two men said he was “revengeful” after being knocked to the ground and he directed the men to recite the “Our Father” to “reflect” on what they had done.

Donal Connaughton (54) said he wanted the men to strip to “humiliate” them. He told them to kneel and recite the “Our Father”, to “instil in them what it says in that prayer not to trespass. I was defending my property in the best way I knew.”

Mr Connaughton faces eight charges, and his wife Margaret (52) six, arising out of an incident on April 29th, 2010. These include false imprisonment, threatening to kill or harm, and assault.

The Connaughtons, from Elfleet, Newtowncashel, Longford, claim they were assaulted by the men, who arrived at their farm to repossess a generator and power washers.

Patrick Mulvey and Justin Tighe, who work for Assets Security in Dún Laoghaire, went to the farm to repossess items on behalf of GE Money.

Mr Connaughton told Longford Circuit Court his wife told him a “dog of a man” had pulled a door on her hand.

“I was angry, as angry as I’ve been in my entire life. I told them to get the f*** off the property, simple as that.”

Mr Mulvey knocked Mr Connaughton to the ground, he said, and “the other guy jumped out of the lorry and put his boot on my chest”.

‘Humiliate’

Mr Connaughton got into a teleporter and said he was going to drag the lorry out on to the road, but the men put on the brake in the lorry.

He said he wanted the men to strip, “to humiliate them like they humiliated me. I wanted them to go down the road stripped, to humiliate them that no one would give them a lift.

“They were free to go. I had my speech made to them.

“It did cross my mind, if I was beat to it, the only asset I had in my favour was the boars, and they might get out of the yard then. Boars have a tendency to open their mouth and close it on a regular basis in a chopping fashion. It was an intimidating aspect, that was the intention of the boar.”

It was put to him that the men were entitled to go on to his property to repossess the machinery. He replied: “In a lawful manner.” The trial, before Judge Anthony Hunt and a jury of seven men and five women, continues.